The Philips AZ9225 - A LOT of features, not a lot of price
Written: Mar 05 '02
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Pros: Inexpensive high-end portable with mini digital optical out, 45-sec ESP, wired remote
Cons: Display is horrid to read without ample light, screen gets smudged/scratched easily
The Bottom Line: The Philips AZ9225 is a user-friendly CD player with a multitude of features. For the price, it's difficult to find a better deal with optical out and a wired remote.
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| aestivalis's Full Review: Philips AZ9225 Personal CD Player |
Oddly enough, I began looking for a portable CD Player after I had already purchased a Minidisc player (Sharp IM-MT880), reason being that I wanted a portable device that wouldn't require a lot of money, but one with a digital optical line out to record to minidisc.
What I found with the Philips AZ9225 was what I needed and a whole lot more.
Unlike most other Philips portable products, this one comes with a rechargeable battery and an AC Adapter. However, it does not contain a car adapter kit (Cassette adapter and cigarette light power adapter), so that may be an extra $20-30 if you need one.
PROS:
The unit itself is very sturdy and clean. The spring on the eject mechanism is a bit strong, but that's easily controlled. The AZ9225 looks great, and the finish is somewhat metallic but not too smooth that it'll scratch easily. It's got your standard Stop, Play, Skip/Search forward/backwards, and ESP buttons. Everything's pretty intuitive, and the wired remote's extremely user-friendly.
Unfortunately, the remote is missing a Skip backwards button, as you can only skip forward, but it does have everything else that you need - Stop, Play, Skip/Search forward, and of course, the Volume control.
The DBB (Digital Dynamic Bass Boost) feature makes quite a huge difference (There are two levels of Digital Bass you can add on) on whichever audio CD you're listening to, even with the headphones that came with the unit. I personally prefer earbuds, and the ones I use (MDR-E888LP) sound wonderful with the Bass Boost on.
As for recharging capabilities, the supplied ECO Ni-MH battery is great. It's easy to charge (just press the stop button twice when the unit's plugged into the AC Adapter). The CD player will even stop recharging for 30 minutes or so when the batteries are full to avoid overheating the unit.
In addition to its numerous features, the AZ9225 can program up to 99 tracks on one CD, which is more than most people will ever need.
Perhaps the most innovative feature on the AZ9225 is that it has the ability to read CD-R's and CD-R/W's. This may not mean much, but my previous portable Aiwa CD Player had lots of problems reading Audio CD-R's that I created. The Aiwa wouldn't even attempt to read a CD-R/W, but the Philips works great. The only drawback is that you have to wait about 10-15 seconds for the laser to read an audio CD-R/W; regular audio CD-R's work marvelously.
There are a few gripes that I do have though (CONS):
For one, it isn't possible to display the time remaining on the Audio CD nor on the current track. I really enjoyed this feature on previous Sony models, but it's something I can live without.
Secondly, the display is extremely dark and hard to read without any light. It does have a backlight, but it disappears after a few seconds or so. If the backlight's not on, the display is so dark (Think Gameboy Advance dark), and you won't be able to see what track or other information on the screen. There is no one single "backlight" button besides one of the function buttons (Pause, Stop, Skip track) to activate the backlight, and it's really annoying to have to lean over and squinch at the display to make sure you're on the right track, especially when you're recording to Minidisc.
While on the topic of using the Digital Optical out, the unit doesn't come with an optical cable, so you'll have to purchase one. Be sure to purchase a cable with a digital mini-plug adapter, as the Monster Cable and Acoustic Research digital optical cables will both be Toslink and not mini-plug. I purchased a normal RCA-brand digital optical cable, and those came with mini-adapters.
You will not be able to use the Optical out on the AZ9225 without the AC Adapter; it won't let you output digitally with just batteries, so don't forget the charger if you plan on taking the unit with you to do some MD recording.
Despite the few compliants I had with the Philips AZ9225, the portable CD Player has been nothing but wonderful. It's got loads of features that are easily accessible, and the price makes it one of the best buys that I've ever come across.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 44.00
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aestivalis
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